Day: February 12, 2011

Abraham Lincoln’s 202nd Birthday: Greater Than Ever, Even If Unappreciated By Many Southerners And Republicans!

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Abraham Lincoln, our greatest President, is 202 years old today, and we are about to commemorate all of the events of the Civil War, on its 150th anniversary this April, but there are many who will not be celebrating this man.

Throughout the South, the descendants of the Confederate States of America are about to celebrate the rebellion, rather than mourn the loss of life brought about by their insistence to defend their right to own slaves, using the facade of “States Rights” to justify the abuse of human rights!

And much of the Republican Party today, while mouthing the heritage of Abraham Lincoln, glorify states rights, as if it is still a valid alternative to defy the national government and the Constitution, as the South did a century and a half ago.

It is ironic that the party of Lincoln, which fought states rights and secession, now contains within it political leaders who openly advocate the same ideology in 2011.

If someone from 1861 to 1865 suddenly came back and saw what has happened to the party of Lincoln, and that it was the Democratic Party which elected the first African American President, Barack Obama, in 2008, they would be totally shocked and speechless!

Meanwhile, ignore the repudiation of Lincoln in the South and in the GOP, and let us celebrate this great man who preserved the Union and ended slavery! He is still our greatest President, and will never be surpassed!

The GOP Attack On Women: Nothing New But Now Enhanced!

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The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has talked about creation of jobs, but instead is focusing on a war against women and their medical care! 🙁

Bills have been introduced to take away federal support of women having Pap tests, breast exams, and HIV tests, because it is all considered part of “family planning”, a code word for the organization Planned Parenthood, which the Republican Party wishes to destroy.

The Republicans have also introduced legislation to tax medical plans of women and their employers who have private health insurance which cover abortion procedures.

They also have tried to redefine rape, so as to avoid the idea of abortions to cover rape and incest, as they wish to force all pregnancies to full term, no matter the age or health or mental state of the prospective mother.

And yet, does the party show any concern about the well being of children born to mothers who do not wish to have children, or cannot afford the economic expense of unwanted children? Of course not, as their only goal is to require birth, but show no concern about life after birth! 🙁

Attempting to outlaw abortion for all reasons will not stop the practice, but will force women who do not wish to have children to obtain a dangerous, “back alley” abortion, which could lead to their deaths.

The Republican Party claims to believe in smaller and less government, certainly when it comes to economic regulation, but again is proving it is very willing to intrude on people’s private lives as to their social interactions and their personal bodies, and that is reprehensible! 🙁

The Destruction Of Public Employees Labor Unions: An Assault On The Middle Class And 80 Years Of American History! :(

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As the nation faces the toughest economic times since the Great Depression, we are witnessing an assault on public employees and their labor unions, wiping out eighty years of hard gained rights since the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and in so doing, further eroding the middle class!

It was labor unions, which came to full development and success beginning in the 1930s, which helped to create decent working conditions for millions of Americans, both in the public and private sector.

Now Republican Governors, and backed by the Republican leadership in Congress, are salivating over the loss of pension and medical benefits, the end of collective bargaining, and the return of employers, including state governments, dictating conditions of work to employees, as if this was the Gilded Age or the 1920s revived! 🙁

In the process, the middle class is being wiped out, being added to the growing number of Americans who are falling into poverty, and yet the suggestion that raising taxes on the wealthy and business might lessen the assault on hard won labor rights is automatically dismissed.

If the states and the national government continue the Republican assault on the middle class, there is the real danger that people will not just sit by and take punch after punch, and allow their dignity and rights gained long ago to be taken away without a counter reaction.

We are entering very dangerous territory and conditions, and yet the Republican Party seems to be tone deaf and immune to the reality of human suffering, only concerning themselves with the comfort of the elite wealthy and corporations.

It may remind many of the arrogance of the elite in other societies, and how their short sightedness led to unfortunate tragedy!

Democrats and progressives must continue to speak up and oppose with all of their energy this great tragedy of the middle class being destroyed, without any concern as to the long range effect!